I just got an 8 week old German Shepherd/Lab Friday night. I think I've settled on the name Kota for him.

He's a total sweetheart. He's barked maybe one time since I got him - literally one yip, maybe two. He doesn't whine when I put him in his crate at night until he has to pee/poo at almost 7:00. I think he understands what it means when I take him out now, he doesn't fight as much anymore before he just says, "Fine, I'll poo".

He's cuddly and isn't mean to the cats although the 1 year old is still trying to work out what to do with him. You can tell he wants to play but he kind of just scampers away from Kota when he gets close. I think he's making a game out of it at this point.

Kota really surprised me this morning. He kept crying at about 8:30 so I thought maybe he was hungry. I put some food down for him but instead of eating, he went to my boots near the back door and just looked at me. I took him out and he did a pee and a poo. This is after less than 48 hours of being here. =)

I've been a bit stressed since I got him, mostly because I'm afraid he'll go on the floor... I ate once yesterday because I was continually on the go with him. I didn't even have time to actually get hungry let alone eat. I think that dog pooped 4 times and peed even more than that. No accidents though!

Although...he did poo in his crate when I went to the store. I don't really count that though because it wouldn't have happened had I been here. So now I'm worried about going to work because I know I'll come home to a mess. I figure I'll put a puppy pad in his cage because he's gonna go between 8:30 and 1:00 for sure. But do you think this will encourage him to go in his cage or just make clean-up easier until he catches onto my routine?

Also, when I give him food, he doesn't eat it all at once, he nibbles. But that makes him poop kind of like...all day... Do I just feed him, give him X time to eat it, and then take the food back? Because I can't leave it with him in his crate, that would be reeallly bad...

Any tips would be appreciated. I'm an anxious person so any kind of nervousness a new pet owner might feel is amplified by like 100 with me.

At 8 weeks old, he needs to go out every 2-3 hours. He also needs to eat more frequently and of course have water all day accessible. You would not be able to take his food up yet and leave him home all day without food.

Do you have a friend or family member that can take him out while you are gone during the day?

Before moving and homeschooling my kids, I was a dog trainer with an emphasis on behavior modification. I used to write articles on training for the local paper back home as well.

Is there anyone that can come home at lunch at let him out - or on break?

It sounds like if he gets what he's supposed to do, which is fantastic btw. You probably shouldn't train him to go in his kennel if no one is home, as that's the exact opposite of what a kennel is supposed to be. It's supposed to be their bed, and you wouldn't go in your bed?

Another alternative you could look into if no one can take a break to come home would be some kind of doggie day care. I used to do this with one of my dogs who had issues if left home alone. Many kennels and some vets have a doggie day care where for usually around $5-10 you can leave your dog with them while at work every day.

I come home every day but he'll still be alone from about 8:30 to 1:00, then I'll be back for lunch. From there, he'll be alone from 2:00 to 5:00. But when I went to the store last night, he was alone maybe 2 hours and he pooped so that's what made me start to worry. He's a smart boy though and I take him out really rather frequently. He pretty much always has to pee at least and I started actually walking him today. First trip around the house (we go out the back and now we come in the front) he tugged like, "Where are we going? House this way!" Second time, he tugged but then started walking halfway around. Third time, almost no tugging and some jogging. =)

If I do doggie daycare, do they train him to go outside? Like will he still pick up the habits I'm trying to teach him now? I've never had to put a dog in daycare before, my parents never did although I wouldn't personally mind the help. I'm just wondering if he'd always need it because he isn't actually alone during the day. We aren't here but he loves the one cat so if I could train him to roam like my parents' dogs do, he'd be happy as can be.

I love animals ..we have 3 Dogs ,Dakota,Cheyenne and Chance.
Dakota will be 5yrs old Airedale Terrier female, Cheyenne 2yrs old ,Golden Retriever female and last but not least Chance are 1year old Airedale Terrier male.
All 3 of our dogs have been crate trained and have been through dog training from Puppy class -Advanced.
All of our dogs are high energy dogs that require a lot of exercise. We always
made sure when they were young to have the toileted every couple of hours.
Once dogs have accidents in their crates it gets harder to train them.
I know people who make arrangements to have their dogs walked or they take them to doggie day care. s it possible someone can stop by to let Kota out for exercise and do his business?
I know when our dogs were young we limited the amount to time they were left to their own devices. From the Dog Trainers they always stressed setting the puppy up for success ,so we have been mindful of giving them situations where they could do this.
Right now I'm in currently in Advance dog class working toward Therapy Dog Program in a Hospital setting.
I have reaped the benefits of all the time and effort I have put into them, some might think I'm a little obsessed but I think to may stable well balanced dogs they need to be mentally and physically challenged.The benefit to the family fewer problems with destructive behavior due to anxiety and boredom.
I am very blessed to have found an awesome training coach to take us to a higher level.
I also keep in touch with our breeder who has been a wealth of knowledge and support.
Good Luck with your Pup is Kota short for Dakota cuz that's what we call our girl for short !
Enjoy ,I miss Puppy Breath,Roo2 oh to prevent grazing time limit on feeding and they eat 3-4 times a day then wait awhile and then they need to go potty!
these things have been very helpful for us and always have water available!

I checked out doggie daycare and so far the going rate is $25 a day. That's a substantial amount of money for someone in my financial situation. I'm not broke - neither I nor the dog will go without - but all I'm "rolling" in these days is Kota's crap every 2 hours. -_-

He's way too young to expect him to hold it for that long. How about putting him a safe spot - maybe the bathroom or kitchen with the door closed and use a puppy pee pad? He could have his kennel in that room with the door left open. That might do the trick. He sounds like a rather "with it" pup and will figure out the rules fast.

He's a smartie, yeah, but boy is he wearing me out! I feel like I'm chasing after a two year old.

Pooped once and peed twice this morning. That was in 1.5 hours. Holy shite. x.x

The funny thing is, I'm trying to put him on a schedule...but he's sort of putting me on one, too. I was up at 6:45 with him! Oh well, it'll be good for me, just need to sleep earlier. 6:45 isn't too early to be up, I'll want to jog him when he is used to his leash and I'll need the extra time.

Our group goes out @5AM Rain or Shine.
Cheyenne our Golden when she was a pup needed to go out @2AM for a while soo I would sleep downstairs in theFamily Room to not wake up everybody in the house. I would have to go out with her cuz the Coyotes came calling for her 1 night ,after we got back in the house they started howling like crazy..scared me so bad thinking what could have possibly happened ..from then on took a Plastic
Bat and a Lantern into the backyard when we went out at night. Our yard is wide open with a lot of open space and ponds in back of our house ..so we have a host of wildlife that venture in our yard.
Even though are youngest is I year old they still go outside frequently to potty and burn off steam.
I credit Dakota,Cheyenne and Chance with giving the motivation to go on walks and helping distract me from eating, forcing me outside even when I don't want to go.
Last week it was raining to hard to put them outside in the backyard so I got on my Raingear on and walked 2 miles with them cuz they needed the exercise and
I got mine too! I purchased snow pants too so I can be toasty while outside.
Fortunately we have walking paths near us and I can work on training them while we are out.
It is wonderful to have the companionship of a dog.
There is a country song called I want you to love me like my dog does and it is so true.
Dogs live in the here in now !and that's what I want to do .
Enjoy your New Little Buddy
Good Luck with everything ,
Roo2

Laughed out loud just reading the title. Had many a pup over the years, they are precious, just like a baby they keep you busy. We always had big dogs too and training was never an issue, all trained by 10 weeks, and our Shar-pei/boxer, never once had an accident in the house, I am serious. I just took her out immediately after eating and immediately after waking and whenever she started to sniff and walk a little funny. lol

Enjoy that pup! I never crated and had no trouble, but any dog with lab in them should be crated, they love to play and chew with everything!

oh and training with jingle bells attached to a rope on the back door worked famously for my dogs, when I would take them out to go, I would jingle the bell. Then they would hit it with their paw when they had to go. I didn't invent this, but it works well!